Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Thursday signed a new law into action that aims to help solve missing persons cases.
Specifically, House Bill 930 will mandate various law enforcement agencies to submit the DNA of a missing person, child, or unknown deceased person to the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) for submission to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS).
NAMUS is a “national information clearinghouse and resource center for missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases across the United States.”
“The toll on a missing person’s family and loved ones is unimaginable,” said State Representative Lynda Schlegel Culver (R-Sunbury), who co-authored the legislation. “The terror they feel at hearing the news is horrific…always wondering how and where it happened, as well as ‘where are they now?’ haunts them. I’m so happy to see House Bill 930 signed into law (as Act 4 of 2022), especially for the families who came forward and generously shared their stories with us, which I know could not have been easy for them.”
According to data presented by Culver, more than 400 families throughout the state have loved ones that are currently missing.
“NAMUS offers a unique feature that allows family members of missing persons to access the database and play an active role in the search for their loved one at no financial cost, as they look for closure in these cases which may have gone cold,” added State Representative Dave Millard (R-Columbia), the other co-author of the piece.
“Every week in communities across the Commonwealth, we hear an Amber alert or see a headline that indicates an elderly person with dementia, or a high school student thought to be studying at a friend’s house, is missing. While many of these cases get resolved quickly, there are far too many that do not. We hope Act 4 will be of help.”
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Governor Tom Wolf” by Governor Tom Wolf. CC BY 2.0. Background Photo “Pennsylvania State Capitol” by Kumar Appaiah. CC BY-SA 2.0.
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